“Christian fiction” is not an easy thing to get right. While “Christian music” is usually just hymns and gospel with a new music style (gospel is technically it’s own music genre but hopefully you get what I mean), Christian stories, and even Christian games, often push the message over the story. Sound familiar? I’m not saying you can’t make a good story with Christian themes and messages. Jesus used parables but they weren’t as heavy handed as some Christian media can get.
Author Brian Niemeier suggests a more subtle approach to how Christian themes and morals are introduced into a story, putting that story first and the messages and themes properly worked into them. Kind of like a certain other ideology that gets that wrong with less noble goals than saving your soul. This way, even if you aren’t winning them to Christ, you’re still telling a good story with a good overall message when “fire and brimstone” is not reaching your audience.
Full disclosure: That’s fan made, not official. Also, it’s not that I care about Blade, Marvel’s famed “daywalker” vampire hunter. All know about Blade comes from the Fox Kids Spider-Man cartoon. I don’t care about vampire stories in general, and I don’t need something to be rated “R” for me to think it’s good, including (and usually especially) superhero stories. I saw vampires on Saturday morning as far back as the 1970s who were still better than Twilight’s alterations because they were still a threat, though sometimes just to villains. Drak Pack is actually one of a few examples of crimefighting vampires. Exceptions exist like Count Von Count from Sesame Street, or Dingbat from Dingbat & The Creeps but one is teaching kids numbers and the other is a wacky comedy. Point is, I have no horse in this race, but this is something that’s odd to me and I would like to see if anyone can explain it.
See, I’m one of the voices that wanted T’Challa to be recast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman, and I wonder if he would have taken on the role, knowing what we all know now between his health and the reactions at Marvel Studios to let the character die and replace him with his sister in violation of lore they couldn’t care less about because it came from a dirty comic book, that media for losers that they’re “improving” by making it all for and about them and screw you, geeks. The important people are taking your stuff because popularity is for them alone. Hollywood is so much like high school…but I’m getting off track.
The point is I’ve seen some of the same voices that were part of #RecastT’Challa on social media insisting that one way to get the ever-delayed MCU version of Blade out there to a happy audience is to forget Mahershala Ali, the actor who has seen his role trapped in development hell and bring back Wesley Snipes, who does enjoy the role and is currently between tax violations. Fans loved the Blade movies and I can understand that. What I can’t understand is the same people against replacing him are some of the same people willing to replace another Marvel hero.
At least Masked Marvel doesn’t have to worry about exchanging insurance information.
Keen Detective Funnies vol 2 #9
Centaur Publishing (September, 1939)
I decided to write this one after writing the review, because at this point I’m not sure what to say with these anthologies. There are numerous creators and they’re credited in each story, while this section is usually for listing the writers, art team, letterer, and editors. So in this issue, prepare for fake stamps, kidnapped soldiers, ventriloquism, new characters, a continued story, and no Speed Centaur except in an ad for the comic…and one of the other Centaur Publishing comics, so make up your mind. Too bad, I can think of a couple stories I would have replaced with him, silly as his concept is.
In time for Halloween, DC Studios just dropped the trailer for Creature Commandos, the first story to come from the DC Gunniverse. The original idea was that the US military opted to use monsters to help fight the Nazis…which is odd because usually in those old stories it was the Nazis tapping into the occult. They would be joined by G.I. Robot, a robot designed to fight guess who.
This is how the Gunniverse begins, as far as when the audience sees it. It should give us an idea of the tone and style James Gunn will be going as he takes charge of his own personal take on the DC Universe and the large variety of characters that will be getting movies, cartoons, and live-action series. This is how he’s introducing his DC, and fans will get a sense of how he will treat these characters and their world.
BW Media Spotlight 